{{Short description|American photographer (1928–2017)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{infobox person |name=Martha Swope |birth_date={{birth date|1928|2|22}} |birth_place=Tyler, Texas, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|2017|1|12|1928|2|22}} |education=Baylor University<br>School of American Ballet |occupation=Photographer }} '''Martha Joan Swope''' (February 22, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American photographer of theatre and dance.
==Early life and education== Born in Tyler, Texas,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0842878/bio|title=Martha Swope|website=IMDb|access-date=2017-03-05}}</ref> she studied at Baylor University<ref name=":2"/> in Waco, Texas, before becoming a student at the School of American Ballet<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.artforum.com/passages/id=66835|title=Siobhan Phillips on Martha Swope (1928–2017)|last=Phillips|first=Siobhan|work=artforum.com|access-date=2017-03-03}}</ref> in the 1950s.
==Career== Her photography career started in 1957, when Jerome Robbins invited her to photograph rehearsals for ''West Side Story''.<ref name=":0"/> Soon afterwards, Lincoln Kirstein hired her as the first official photographer for the New York City Ballet.<ref name=":1"/> She photographed figures in the dance world including George Balanchine, Michael Bennett, Joe Papp, and David Merrick.<ref name=":3"/> She was known for taking photos onstage while posed in the fourth position.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.americantheatre.org/2017/01/18/picture-perfect-martha-swope-an-icon-who-captured-icons-onstage/|title=Picture Perfect: Martha Swope, an Icon Who Captured Icons Onstage|last=Rosegg|first=Carol|website=American Theatre|date=January 18, 2017 |access-date=March 3, 2017}}</ref>
She documented over 800 productions in her lifetime.<ref name=":2"/> To her, rehearsals were "where you see the creativity and the interchange, how it grows to what it comes to be onstage".<ref name=":5"/>
She stopped taking photos when she retired in 1994, saying that "now I think it's somebody else's era".<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2017/01/photographer-martha-swope-dies-1201884931/|title=Martha Swope Dies; Leading Photographer for Theater and Dance Was 88|last=Gerard|first=Jeremy|date=2017-01-13|work=Deadline|access-date=2017-04-09}}</ref>
==Death== Swope died from Parkinson's disease on January 12, 2017, at the age of 88.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/arts/design/martha-swope-88-who-etched-dance-and-theater-history-in-photographs-dies.html|title=Martha Swope, 88, Who Etched Dance and Theater History in Photographs, Dies |last=Gold |first=Sylviane |date=2017-01-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-03-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==In media== Her photographs have been featured in many newspapers and journals, including ''Life'' magazine and ''The New York Times''. She donated her archive of 1.5 million images to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in 2010.<ref name=":4"/>
===Awards and achievements=== In 2004, Swope received a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theater award, and in 2007, she was given a lifetime achievement award from the League of Professional Theater Women.<ref name=":0"/>
==Legacy== Swope's photographs were displayed in multiple books: ''Baryshnikov on Broadway: Photographs'', Tanaquil Le Clercq's ''Mourka: The Autobiography of a Cat'', Kenneth Laws's ''Physics and the Art of Dance'', and Denny Martin Flinn's ''What They Did for Love: The Untold Story Behind the Making of A Chorus Line''.<ref name=":0"/>
==Personal life== She lived in a brownstone on 72nd Street in New York City. She used her bathroom as a darkroom and her closet was her film developing room.
Besides ballet and photography, Swope had an immense passion for animals and travel. She rescued and took care of stray dogs. One of her dogs was named "Topo". When she later moved to the Manhattan Plaza apartment complex on West 43rd Street, she adopted a greyhound mix named "Bert".<ref name=":3"/>
She also visited a sundry mix of places, such as Africa, Switzerland, and Italy. Although Swope had a lively and caring spirit, she was also very private about her personal life and actually avoided going to the theatre "because of crowds".<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/theater/martha-swope-exhibition-at-new-york-public-library.html|title=Martha Swope Exhibition at New York Public Library |last=Piepenburg |first=Erik |date=2012-09-20|work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-04-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[http://archives.nypl.org/the/22827 Martha Swope photographs, circa 1955 – circa 2002 (bulk 1957–1994)], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swope, Martha Joan}} Category:1928 births Category:2017 deaths Category:20th-century American women photographers Category:20th-century American photographers Category:21st-century American women photographers Category:21st-century American photographers Category:Ballet photographers Category:Baylor University alumni Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state) Category:People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Category:People from Tyler, Texas Category:Photographers from New York City Category:Photographers from Texas Category:School of American Ballet alumni Category:Theatrical photographers